Thursday, July 04, 2013

Last Day in Rome -- Vatican

We had no plans this morning and Marty (yes, Marty) wanted to go shopping. Our hotel is on Via Babuino -- apparently the Rodeo Drive shopping of Rome. Not quite the right teen shopping so we headed down to the next block, Via del Corso with shops more in our price range. I found a shop with cute bags in the window so we were drawn in. Then realized it was Fossil. Also walked past Foot Locker, Vans and The Gap.

Marty did find a stylish shirt that he liked and some jeans -- success!! And if suspenders and shorts come in style, we'll be able to say we saw it first in Italy.

We all walked down to Campo de Fiori for lunch (we pretty much eat either pasta or pizza for lunch and the other for dinner!) and then Valeria, our tour guide met us to take us to the Vatican.

We've loved having a guide at some major sites. We especially love that its just our family in our group so we can get around quickly. Valeria is entertaining, fun to be with and so knowledgable. We've been able to skip the lines and she explains briefly the history, key things to look at and interesting details. Not to mention she's happy to take our picture whenever we want!

Vatican: Museums, Sistene Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, Swiss Guard

Back on the other side of the Tiber, we went inside the Pantheon and then next door to choose gelato from over 125 flavors! Finally a last trip up the hill for a daytime view of the city. Then home for a nap.

After dinner, we headed back to The Spanish Steps and Chris and Nick tried their bargaining skills for laser pointers. They had practiced with an expert over dinner (Marty) and felt ready for the real deal. They walked away when they didn't get their deal (as planned), but we forgot to account that they would walk back to us and then the seller would follow them over and strike up a bargaining deal with Dad. Nick was pretty worried for a while but eventually they struck a deal.

We are headed to Florence, (Firenze) by train, tomorrow. So excited for our next adventure!